Mamoru Nagano’s Five Star Stories Gets a New English Translation
Mamoru Nagano’s Five Star Stories might just be the most epic manga title you’ve never heard of. The series, which began publication in 1986 in the pages of Newtype, takes place in the Joker Star Cluster, home to multiple solar systems. Long ago, a powerful empire united all of the Joker systems, but centuries after its downfall, the citizens of those systems now live in a quasi-feudalistic society complete with dukes, emperors, and knights.
Rather than joust on horses, though, the knights of The Five Star Stories do battle in gigantic mechs called Mortar Headds that stand up to 40 meters tall. Given their size and complexity, Mortar Headds are too much for human pilots (known as “headdliners”) to handle alone, so genetically engineered humanoid computers called “fatimas” are used to help manage a Mortar Headd’s systems. Fatimas, who usually look like young elfin women, are highly prized in the Joker systems, and due to their value in combat, essentially live as slaves to their headdliner masters.
The Five Star Stories is ambitious in scope, to say the least, with a story that spans millennia and even other universes as it chronicles the rise of Amaterasu, a godlike and immortal individual seeking to unite all of the Joker systems and usher in a new age of peace. (Oh, and there are also dragons for good measure.) It’s also incredibly convoluted, especially now that Nagano has begun retconning the entire series to fit within another work of his called Gothicmade.
Eighteen volumes of The Five Star Stories have been published to date, and though English translations exist via Nagano’s own Toyspress company, they’re not the easiest to find here in the West. However, that will change next year when Titan Comics begins publishing a new English translation of The Five Star Stories. I’ve only caught glimpses of The Five Star Stories, including the animated adaptation released in 1989 by director Kazuo Yamazaki, but it’s one of those series that possesses a nigh-legendary reputation due to its success in Japan. Suffice to say, I’m very excited to finally get my hands on an official English release.
The first volume of Titan’s Five Star Stories translation will be released in March 2026 (preorder your copy).